Thailand takes a hit - TTG Asia

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Malaysia: Briefing Undiscovered beauty Low-profile state is seeking more foreigners with Visit Perak Year 2012, says N. Nithiyananthan Arrivals Sandwiched between Selangor and Penang, Perak currently draws mostly domestic tourists. Of its three million visitors in 2010, about 95 per cent were domestic. Singaporeans are the state’s main source of international tourists. Perak Chief Minister, Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir, said: “We are still working on the target for 2012. However, of the increase in the number of tourists that we are aiming for, we want at least 40 per cent of them to be international visitors, with Singaporeans as our main target.” NTO To boost its image as a tourism destination, the state government declared 2012 as Visit Perak Year, dividing Perak into five clusters for easier packaging. “The five clusters are Belum and Lenggong; Taiping; Kuala Kangsar; Ipoh; and Pangkor,” said Hamidah Osman, chairman of the state committee responsible for tourism. “From the clusters, three-day, two-night packages will be developed.” Perak’s capital Ipoh, as well as Taiping and Kuala Kangsar are urban centres rich in history and heritage. Pangkor is a popular beach resort, Belum has one of the oldest rainforests in the world and Lenggong is an archaeologically-rich area. Products In addition to the development of the five clusters, a history and heritage trail as well as a food trail are being packaged. “The food trail is especially targeted at Singaporeans,” Zambry said. Ipoh-based Syuen Tours Travel & Leisure general manager May Wong thinks the food trail will do well. “I already have customers from Singapore who regularly visit Ipoh just to try out the food,” she said. Singapore-based Citiskies Travel Mart customer service manager Liyana Ahmad Kamal added: “Having visited Belum and Lenggong, I know that such a package is sellable to adventurous travellers. I’m not sure about heritage though. It will be hard for Ipoh to compete with Malacca, which is well established.” On that front, the state government is working with the Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture to get a Unesco World Heritage Site “Of the increase in the number of tourists that we are aiming for, we want at least 40 per cent of them to be international visitors, with Singaporeans as our main target.” Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir Chief Minister Perak Perak’s Temenggor Lake is one of the state’s best-kept secrets listing for the archaeological site at Lenggong, where the remains of the ancient Perak Man were found, said to date back to 11,000 years ago. Hotels The number of hotel guests in 2010 declined by 12 per cent compared to 2009, from 2.5 million to 2.2 million. Despite the trend, Ipoh theme park Lost World of Tambun is confident that increasing the inventory of its Lost World Hotel will help it to take on bigger groups and push up its occupancy rate. Having opened in May with 96 rooms, it will add another 78 on December 1. The park also recently opened its latest attraction, the Lost World Tin Valley, in August (see page 18). Lost World of Tambun general manager Calvin Ho said: “The new block is to cater to families wanting a longer stay at the park. We expect an occupancy rate of 60 to 70 per cent with the increased inventory.” While consistently running at 100 per cent occupancy during weekends, the hotel currently averages a 50 per cent occupancy. Iwan Yang, head of Singaporebased agency Lokopoko Travel, was also optimistic that the Lost World of Tambun packages would be popular among Singaporeans. As for other developments, the five-star Ipoh Riverside Hotel and serviced apartment complex is expected to open next year. Access Firefly, which operates the Ipoh-Singapore route twice daily, provides the only scheduled flight service to the state. This route reportedly generates the best load factor for the airline. According to Zambry, the government is expecting other carriers to have direct flights to Ipoh next year. While details are not available yet, the trade expects at least one airline to be from Medan in neighbouring Sumatra. Ipoh’s Sultan Azlan Shah Airport is currently undergoing refurbishment work in anticipation of more airlines and bigger aircraft. Served by six electric train services daily, land transfers to Ipoh from Kuala Lumpur are also being promoted. The journey is two hours’ long. Alternatively, visitors can get to Perak using the highway that connects Selangor and Penang. N. Nithiyananthan
OctOber 28 – NOvember 3, 2011 • ttg asia 17 Malaysia’s improving leisure arrivals % Change Over Prior Year 60% 40% 20% 0% -20% -40% -60% -80% Leisure-focused ADS channel results Net Reservations Net ADR Net Revenue Apr-11 May-11 Jun-11 Jul-11 Aug-11 Sep-11 Sep 2011 Sep 2010 % change Net average length of stay (nights) 3.03 2.59 16.8 Net average booking lead time (days) 49.16 38.45 27.8 Data represents bookings from the leisure-focused alternative distribution system (ADS) channel, which consists of purely Internet bookings. This includes non-GDS online third-party channels or online travel agents primarily used by consumers. The data is stated on a date of booking basis, and a constant exchange rate is used for calculations in order to eliminate currency exchange rate fluctuations. The immediate impact of Japan’s March disaster on arrivals to Malaysia has lessened. As seen in the graph, leisure reservations from the alternative distribution channel (ADS) for the month of September are within 10 per cent of reservations made for September last year. Average daily rate (ADR) has fared better than bookings, rising back to prioryear levels in July and surpassing the prior year by double-digit percentage margins in August and September. It is the upswing in ADR growth, combined with improved booking performance, which has driven the strong revenue gains over the prior year seen in August and September. Japan arrivals are not back to levels prior to the crisis, but they are improving. Financial market stress placed on the global economy, however, is taking its toll on arrivals from Europe and the US. Malaysia also faces competition from neighbouring destinations like Singapore. One positive attribute that bodes well for Malaysia’s ongoing performance is the average number of nights per trip or length of stay (LOS). Malaysia’s average leisure LOS in September of 3.03 nights is greater than the global average of 1.97 nights and the 1.98 average outside North America. What’s most notable is that while the global average number of nights has trended approximately the same as last year, Malaysia’s has increased. Another optimistic sign is its average booking lead time of 49.16 days in September, exceeding the global average of 16.43 days and the average outside North America of 25.64 days. Average booking lead time also grew by 27.8 per cent over last September, a dramatically greater margin than the global average increase of 3.2 per cent. In this tie-up with <strong>TTG</strong> <strong>Asia</strong>, Pegasus Solutions provides an up-close look at destination-specific hotel performance. Data and analysis is based on over four billion monthly transactions processed through Pegasus’ hotel switch technology. For regional trends, visit www.pegs.com/ thepegasusview. P17 RW Genting_SA ok.indd 1 24/10/11 9:13 AM Hotels, resorts jump on high-end bandwagon By N. Nithiyananthan Malaysia’s goal of becoming a high-income nation by 2020 – with the help of tourism – is seeing hotels and resorts taking steps to move up the value chain. Tourism Minister, Dr Ng Yen Yen, said: “Tourism Malaysia has set its sights on the target of receiving 36 million tourist arrivals by the year 2020 and RM168 billion (US$55 billion) in tourism (earnings). “This means the industry will grow by three times and tourism will contribute RM3 billion in receipts per week to the country in 2020.” Of the 12 initiatives identified to achieve this target, one of them involves improving the rates, mix and quality of hotels. In response, hotels are also pulling out the stops to attract higher-spending clientele. With the recently completed rebranding of the Genting Hotel to Maxims Genting, Resorts World Genting (RWG) is now gearing towards the luxury market. RWG marketing manager Andrew Leong said: “We run at an average occupancy rate of 95 per cent year round. With demand outstripping supply, the natural trend was to go upmarket.” Rates start from RM500 and RM900 a night depending on the season, compared to RM280 and RM480 previously. The property’s pride is the Royal Suite. “As the most exclusive of all our suites and residences, the Royal Suite has five bedrooms, which make up a total of (1,207m 2 ),” said Leong. “This suite also has an outdoor garden where private functions can be hosted. It even has its own helipad for guests to arrive and leave in style – weather permitting – with the guarantee of privacy,” he added. Singapore, China, India and the Middle East continue to be Maxims Genting’s core markets. Near Ipoh, The Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat opened last year as a five-star sanctuary consisting of 25 luxury villas. Located in a valley and spanning more than six hectares, it has gained a reputation for programmes based on Malay, Chinese and Indian spa and wellness traditions, espe- Luxury touches at the Maxims Genting cially with its own hot springs. “Rates for a villa start from RM1,800,” said Carl Selvarajah, spokesperson for The Banjaran. “Our target markets include Singapore, Japan, India, China and more recently, the Middle East,” he added. The property is also hosting French celebrity chef and owner of Pousse Pousse restaurant in Paris, Lawrence Aboucaya, for two weeks in October to introduce organic vegetarian cuisine to customers, Courtesy of Maxims Genting said Selvarajah. Meanwhile, the premier Datai Langkawi, which is now managed by Archipelago Hotels and Resorts, is adding 14 beach villas to its property. Construction, which started in July, is scheduled for completion in November 2012. Berjaya Hotels & Resorts also rebranded Berjaya Redang Resort as the Taaras Beach & Spa Resort in July and handed over management to the Taaras Luxury Group. “As a result of this transition, rates have gone up,” said Mayflower Acme Tours head-inbound division, international sales, Andy Soo. “The facilities are also different, as they have moved into making the resort a spa destination.” Soo said most of the recent developments involved smaller properties catering to a niche market. “They are in line with the government’s ETP (economic transformation programme). While they are expensive, the pick-up rate is not too bad. We have takers,” he added.
Page 1 and 2: PPS 619/02/2012(022706) Live Large.
Page 3 and 4: news ‘We don’t know’ Travel C
Page 5 and 6: Discover a Rich Indochine Heritage
Page 7 and 8: shopping havens 300 goods valued at
Page 10 and 11: New possibilities are blooming with
Page 12 and 13: Thailand: Briefing Samui gets a bum
Page 14 and 15: 8 - 15 January 2012 Manado • Repu
Page 18 and 19: Malaysia: insider Test drive Lost W
Page 20: NEWS Continued from page 1 Meetings

Thailand takes a hit - TTG Asia

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?